Mr. Speaker, all week I drew comparisons between smaller communities and the larger centres. I understand the smaller communities cannot have high schools with full curriculua like the larger centres, arenas and even indoor swimming pools. However, I’d like to ask the Premier if he has had any Cabinet discussions on closing the gap between larger centres and the smaller communities.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, indeed, we have, when we talked about the services, the vision and goals of the 16th Legislative Assembly. One of the areas we look at is strategic action supporting small and sustainable remote communities. We’ve had a number of discussions flowing throughout a number of initiatives that we’ve highlighted, whether it’s Reducing the Cost of Living, Building Our Future, Refocusing Government. There are a number of factors in each area that we want to put some energy into and focus on through the life of this Assembly to reduce those gaps the Member has highlighted.
I’d like to ask the Premier: has the Premier initiated any discussions in his Cabinet on the requirement to have a needs assessment to determine the current gap in determining where the small communities are and where they should be?
Mr. Speaker, as we begin the work of the 16th Legislative Assembly to get through this budget cycle, we’re prepared to move into these areas and look at that work. There has been much work done; for example, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, when it comes to their funding formulas; Education, Culture and Employment; Health and Social Services. There are different frameworks out there when it comes to the level of service in communities. We want to bring those to the table, as we’d had the questions in the House by the Member regarding a role with the committees and Members of this Assembly. I think that’s the area we can get into. A number of these approaches we can take through that joint committee.
Mr. Speaker, in addition to setting up a joint committee to address these issues, would the Premier put this project or this initiative on the Cabinet agenda so that this does not lose its focus during this Assembly?
In fact, this morning we were talking in Cabinet about pulling together the information that we can sit down with Members on and come up with a joint process of dealing with these issues. So yes, it will remain on our roles and strategic actions as we work through this Assembly.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to seek the Premier’s opinion. I’d like to ask the Premier if he agrees that the level of service to our citizens is not balanced between small communities and larger centres. Thank you.
I think it would be fairly straightforward for us, as Members, whether we’re representing small communities or larger centres. When we travel throughout the North, we can clearly see there are differences in our larger centres that have a healthy economic sector versus the small community that could be traditionally based.
There are large gaps; we recognize that. That’s why part of our strategic action is supporting sustainable communities. That is looking at the level of service we provide and the delivery methods. We can also bring to the table the fact that as a government we’ve recognized these when it comes to trying to put more resources into those communities.
Unfortunately, the smaller we go, the harder it is to come up with the right balance when you talk about investment in our communities and the cost per capita. We recognize that, and we’d like to sit down with Members and bring all of the information to the table.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
